SYRACUSE HERALD-JOURNAL
Bette Midler beefs over ads
THURSDAY. OCTOBER 26, 1989
LOS ANGELES-Bette Midler testified in her $10 million lawsuit against Ford Motor Co. and an ad agency that a commercial in which a singer imitated her voice damaged her reputation irreparably.
The Grammy-winning singer and actress said one of her former backup singers was hired to perform the song “Do You Wanna Dance” for a 1986 Mercury Sable commercial after she turned Ford down.
“I don’t do commercials,” she testified Wednesday. “I don’t believe in it. I resent people looking at that commercial and thinking that’s me. They think I sold out. It doesn’t matter if I win or lose this trial. The damage is done.”
